Reviews

'Robot Chicken'. Hmm, that's definitely and eye-catching title, don't you think? At least, that's what I thought when I first heard of it whilst browsing through my dad's collection of strange and funny series. I thought to myself, "A robot chicken? Why would anyone want a robot chicken?" So, out of curiosity, I sat myself down and watched what turned out to be one of the craziest and mind-bogglingly f*****-up adult television shows I had ever seen.

Created by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich, 'Robot Chicken' was a bizarre twist on the term 'comedy sketch show' in which various actors and/or actresses would perform numerous scenes of comic hilarity to entertain the masses. It was along similar lines to another bizarre show titled 'Celebrity Deathmatch'. With this programme however, it went to the extreme. Firstly, it was animated using models and dolls such as a Barbie, Ken or Stacey, some even being customised to look like real people. They were made to move about with moving mouths and exaggerated eyes to create some sense of realism but with that "I'm so obviously a cartoon" style.

Each sketch was ridiculous in the extreme. They contained either violence, excessive stupidity (so much so that it was annoying), blood and guts gore or outright, sexually explicit crudeness. Personally, this is what stopped me from giving it a full 10/10. But despite the foulness of the skits, it still made me laugh out loud, which is obviously what it has done with many other people as the show has continued on for a total of 4 seasons so far.

Quite often, 'Robot Chicken' will parody a performer or well-known public-figure/group. Among such names was the late, great Michael Jackson, where he was supposedly showing up for court when an alien spaceship landed and the still coloured Michael Jackson jumped out proclaiming that he had been abducted by aliens in their mad bid to take over the world. Other mock-ups included the band N'Sync, where the last surviving member Joey Fatone must avenge his friends deaths by competing in a deadly martial-arts tournament. There are a lot more celebrities throughout, such as Britney Spears, Corey Feldman, Vanilla Ice, Harrison Ford and Aerosmith. Some of the characters are even voiced by their real-life counter-parts.

As for the whole, "Why would anyone want a robot chicken?" issue, it has absolutely nothing to do with a robotic chicken, except for in the opening title a mad scientist straps a re-animated chicken in to a chair to watch all these insane sketches, for whatever mad purpose, I can't quite gather.

But overall, it's an excellent show with no meaning or purpose to it whatsoever. But then, in todays society, who needs a show to make sense as long as it entertains the masses, which is exactly what 'Robot Chicken' does.

Favourite Episode: #1 "The Deep End" - It has a great mock of the well-known film 'Kill Bill'. But this time, it's 'Kill Bunny'.

Now this is definitely what I would call a "work of art". 'Bottom' is a broad collision of highly indecent behaviour, artistic expression, excellent scripting and wonderful acting. Written by and also starring Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson, it was first broadcast in 1991 to what I imagine would have been a very shocked but enlightened audience.

Rik Mayall appears as Richard 'Richie' Richard, an uncouth, perverted, middle-aged man sharing an apartment with his so-called friend and equally slovenly moron, Edward 'Eddie' Hitler. The two of them spend each episode torturing each other with various household objects and 'I don't want to know where he got that' type weapons and causing unending chaos to both their surroundings and their neighbours. The show is definitely very slapstick in style and relies heavily on violence for its main base of humour. But given the depth the actors give to their individual characters and the all out absurdity of it, you can't help but tune in to watch more.

During the three seasons the show ran for, a total of 18 episodes, you never once saw Eddie or Richie work or pay for something without trying to cheat their way out of it in some inane or psychotic way. This was because they were scrounging off of the government, living on benefits (if any at all) and just generally lazing around. I disagree heartily with this way of life as many of you will agree, but it does open the door for a lot of comedic situations and mocking.

There's certainly not a great amount of logic in this programme, but I'm sure you've already realised from reading this review, that is entirely the point of the show. It was a delve in to the unknown that actually paid off. Along extremely similar lines to 'Bottom' and also starring Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson was the show 'The Young Ones'. That too was a success, but I personally have more love for 'Bottom'.

I highly recommend the show to anyone with a wide sense of humour.

There's not much I can say about this work of art, but I admire the depth and complexity of the film. There's so much information and logic throughout, I almost felt as though I had gained knowledge by watching it.

I'll put it simply.

It's about a character, known simply as A Square, who lives in a 2 Dimensional world known only as Flatland. Why? Well, because it's flat of course. All the people are squares, circles, hexagons, etc... but all of them are equally as flat as the other. They have no idea of 3 Dimensional space. That is, until A Sphere appears from Spaceland and takes A Square on a whirlwind journey of discovery and intrigue where he learns all about the 3rd dimension and his own purpose in life.

It's all rather confusing and irregular in it's general presentation, but it's also one of the best animated films I've seen in a long time. I'm left with a distinct feeling of wonder and deep thought that I've not experienced in years. It feels amazing. So overall, it's an excellent film that I highly recommend.

A superbly done and intriguingly thought-provoking production that brought a new light to a rather run-down and quite unattractive district of South-West Glasgow known only as Govan. Not many shows would have thought to take root in an area such as this, but considering how the character was created and the general logical chaos he left in his wake, it was probably the best choice anyway.

I had never really even heard of 'Rab C Nesbitt' until a friend introduced me to it via YouTube if I'm not mistaken. I was a bit stumped at first by the overall unintelligible blabber that flowed from the characters choppers. In actual fact, I could barely understand a single word the man was saying and it very nearly put me off the whole idea of watching anymore. However, I persevered and pretty soon I was hooked.

The show itself is named after the main character, Rab C Nesbitt, acted wonderfully by Scottish actor, Gregor Fisher. Fisher brought a great deal of warmth, humility, depth and soul to a character that if played by anyone else, most likely would have turned out cold, hard and utterly repulsive. His character is admittedly not the most charming of fellows, but deep down, looking past his crude exterior and violent habits, you can see that the man cares greatly for his family and friends.

The show basically follows the life of Nesbitt, who wanders around Govan wearing a faded pin-striped suit and string vest, spouting off about one thing or another. He's sometimes accompanied by his best mate, Jamesie Cotter (Tony Roper) who is even more crude than Nesbitt and openly hunts for that easy lay, even though his horrid wife, Ella Cotter is well aware of it. Mind you, she can be a bit hypocritical at times considering the fact that she herself has cheated on Jamesie on numerous occasions.

But back to Nesbitt. He himself is married to none other than Mary Nesbitt. Elaine C Smith takes on the challenge of playing such a stressful role, of a woman so eager to please her partner but also to remain a firm pillar of support for her children when everything inevitably comes falling down around her. Although, that's not to say there aren't any happy endings. The whole programme is full of comedy situations and dialogue, it's hard to be put off by the lack of glamour and fashion that's so apparently missing. As I mentioned, the Nesbitt's have children. Two in fact. Gash and Burney Nesbitt, played by Andrew Fairlie and Eric Cullen respectively. As far as I'm concerned, they are total pains in the arses, but I also have to admit that without them the show wouldn't seem as complete.

It's amazing how much thought must have been put in to the scripts for this show. Ian Pattison must have thought long and hard about each episode as he wrote them. If you sit and listen to what Nesbitt rants about, in most cases he makes a lot of sense. It's almost philosophical in its own right. A drunken slob that makes more sense than a sober priest when it comes to affairs of the heart, mind and soul. Just sit and take a good long listen to what he has to say and you'll know what I mean.

Overall, an excellent show, which is why I give it a 9 out of 10. I would have given it a 9.5, but sadly IMDb doesn't allow that. It's not my favourite show, but it's certainly in my top 10 chart, which is an achievement in itself. As of now, I have not yet seen all the episodes, but hopefully I will catch up with them soon enough.

Have you ever seen or heard of a comedy show entitled, 'Mr Bean'? Well if you have, then perhaps like me, you thought it was a complete and utter load of tripe. I can maybe understand how some people would like it, but I on the other hand have a definite and unarguable preference for a far superior comedy show, 'The Baldy Man'.

Although it is true that Mr Bean was broadcast in 1990, a total of five years before The Baldy Man was broadcast in 1995 and that a lot of people claim Baldy Man was a cheap imitation of Mr Bean, it must be noted that the shows character was actually first presented in the comedy sketch show, 'Naked Video' in 1986. 'Gregor Fisher' was the talented actor that got the chance to act out Baldy's mishaps and short-comings for audiences world-wide.

The star character, B. Aldyman, was a rather stout man with a ridiculous comb-over hairstyle and shameful fashion sense. He would spend his time in each episode; preening himself, thinking he was perfect at everything, believing he was always right and trying to find ways to achieve a full head of hair. But each and every time he would somehow mess things up or something would happen to hinder his plans of relaxation and enjoyment.

Besides the main character, Gregor Fisher also portrayed Baldy's mum, Fanny. Somewhat more bulbous round the middle than himself and with a curly wig that suited him just a bit more than you would like to admit, it was astonishing just how funny this character turned out to be. He appeared on screen wearing skirts and fancy outfits, cooing and squawking like an old woman on helium, causing riots of laughter with everything he did. His best appearances were in the Mother's Day episode and the Barbecue episode where this character played a huge part alongside Baldy.

Another recurring actor in each episode is Scottish actor, 'Andy Gray' who plays a number of different roles ranging from his next-door neighbour to a hair-dresser or even a police constable. Some of his characters genuinely try to help Baldy, but there are also quite a few that do their utmost to get in his way and cause chaos throughout the episode.

There were two seasons of The Baldy Man, in 1995 and then in 1997. There were a grand total of 13 episodes made, six in season one and seven in season two, with each episode containing two separate plots. Added to the beginning and end of each show, were small sketches of Baldy doing something silly. One such sketch was of him taking a hard-boiled egg, placing it atop his crown and pulling his comb-over down on it, therefore slicing it in to pieces for his sandwich.

The Baldy Man was a great show that had me laughing on many occasions. I never get tired of watching it and it still continues to make me laugh just as much as I did the first time round. But there's one thing I forgot to mention about this show. There's absolutely no legible dialogue between any of the characters. Instead, it's just a series of mumbling and gesturing that indicates speech. and of course, that's exactly what makes it such a brilliant show. Gregor Fisher does and amazing job of bringing life to his character without the use of words. His facial expressions, hand gestures and overall body-language give off all the information the viewer needs to know what he's trying to say. It really does amaze me that this show was not as successful as I believe it should have been considering the effort the cast and crew put in to the making of the show. But, at least I can say that I am a fan of the Baldy Man and always will be.

Favourite episode: DIY - This is where Baldy tries to do some simple home DIY and ends up making a pigs ear out of it.

Second favourite episode: Casualty - This is where Baldy pricks his finger and goes to the A&E with hilarious results.

In 1979, one of my favourite Vampire movies was released, 'Love at First Bite'. With its cheesy dialogue, romance plot line and toned, tanned and accented 'George Hamilton' playing the sad vampire, 'Count Vladimir Dracula', this movie was a comedy success just waiting to happen.

Vladimir is a Vampire with a heart. He is lonely, tired of his un-life and longing for companionship. But each and every time he has tried throughout the centuries to find his true love, something terrible always happened. And now, he is being evicted from his Transylvanian home and so has decided to move to New York to find his love, 'Cindy Sondheim', played by the beautiful 'Susan Saint James'.

Cindy is a model (naturally) but surprisingly isn't as up herself as one would expect. Her character is much more self-conscious and down to earth than I had expected, which added to my enjoyment of the film.

Soon enough, with the help of his servant and companion, 'Renfield', acted with such creepiness and downright filth by 'Arte Johnson', Vlad finally meets Cindy and proceeds to woo her with his deadly charm. But there is one problem. Cindy's psychologist and part-time lover, 'Dr. Jeffery Rosenberg' gets in the way, by opening up and confessing that he changed his name and that he is really a 'Van Helsing'. Jeffery then does his best to save Cindy and kill Vlad.

One of my favourite scenes is set in a restaurant. Cindy and Vlad are having dinner when Jeffery bursts in, pulls out a gun and shoots Vlad three times in the chest, proclaiming that three silver bullets would kill him. But Vlad simply laughs and replies that the joke was on him, silver bullets are for werewolves. Jeffery is dragged out by the police and exclaims as he goes;

'No harm done. The man's alright. This was for a werewolf. No problem. Calm down, take it easy. I'm a Doctor, I know what I'm doing. It's alright, he's even got a little colour.'

Overall, an excellent movie with a great cast and wonderful camera work and effects. The dialogue can be a bit cheesy at times, but it's definitely funny either way. There a lot of good lines throughout, but you'll have to watch it to hear them for yourself.

'Naked Video' is possibly one of the best comedy sketch shows I have come to see, bringing stitches to my sides as I find myself laughing at the majority of the scenes. I had never really heard of 'Naked Video' until a friend introduced me to it via YouTube. There's not a lot I can really say about this show that has not already been said before, but I can confirm most of the positive review with my own interpretation.

During each episode, there are a number of recurring characters that you come to look forward to seeing each and every time. In fact, one of the most well-known characters was 'Rab C Nesbitt', an alcoholic Glaswegian stereotype, played famously by 'Gregor Fisher', who later went on to have his own spin-off series, simply titled 'Rab C Nesbitt'. Aside from that, some of my favourite characters had to be Welsh poet 'Siadwell', done amazingly well by 'John Sparkes'. 'The Baldy Man' was also a favourite of mine, again played by 'Gregor Fisher'. In this role, he was vain, silly and was obsessed with his few strands of hair that he had as a comb-over a-top his head. This character also went on to have an unfortunately, unsuccessful spin-off series. (Though I must admit to liking it myself.) And despite my usual dislike of actress 'Helen Lederer', I must admit to finding myself mildly intrigued whenever she came on screen as a semi-drunk propping up a wine bar, monologuing her life. Occasionally she would come out with something amusing.

Other actors and actresses that appeared in the programme, were 'Elaine C Smith', 'Andy Gray' and 'Tony Roper'.

With both excellent performances and catchy theme music, this show was bound to be a huge hit. And true enough, it was, running a total of five seasons. Three of these are already on DVD, but the last two have not been released, much to the bitter disappointment of its many fans.

This has to be, one of the most outrageously funny and well-acted Sci-Fi Comedy series ever made. With a well-placed cast and ridiculously illogical episode plots, the whole thing seemed to mesh and become a huge hit.

Set in the future, on a space mining ship, the Red Dwarf, the show follows the zany lives of its remaining crew, 3 million years after a massive radiation leak from an improperly repaired drive plate wiped out virtually all life on-board the ship. The only survivors, were 'Dave Lister', played by the enigmatic and downright hilarious 'Craig Charles' (now appearing as Loyd Mullaney in Coronation Street), who had just been placed in stasis for smuggling aboard his female cat (Frankenstein), who then turned out to be the only other survivor.

When 'Holly' the ships computer, performed by 'Norman Lovett', finally feels its safe to let Lister out of stasis, he has the very difficult and repetitive task of telling him that everyone is dead.

Holly: Everybody is dead, Dave. Lister: Not Chen? Holly: Gordon Bennett! Yes! Chen, everybody. Everybody's dead, Dave. Lister: Rimmer? Holly: He's dead, Dave. Everybody's dead. Everybody is dead, Dave! Lister: Wait. Are you trying to tell me everybody's dead?

Once Lister comes to terms with it all, he is both relieved and distressed to discover that Holly has brought back his old roommate and colleague, 'Arnold Rimmer' as a hologram in order to keep him sane. The depth that actor 'Chris Barrie' brought to his character, to me, was amazing. He managed to convey a man so blinded by himself, believing himself worthless, yet somehow destined for ultimate greatness at the same time, with a naivety that surpassed even The Cat's.

'Cat', performed by 'Danny John-Jules' was the end result of 3 million years worth of evolution and breeding by Listers cat, Frankenstein. Cat is a self-centered, egotistical moron that takes more pleasure out of his own appearance than anything else. One of my favourite lines from Cat was in Series 1, episode 2, when he was to be found, sauntering over to Listers fish tank singing, "I'm gonna eat you little fishy!"

Later on, in series 2, the crew come across an android, 'Kryten' - 'Robert Llewellyn' (originally played by 'David Ross' in the first episode titled, Kryten). From then on, they spend their times together, while Holly steers them all home, back to Earth.

The crew go through a lot of insane adventures, with many obvious and illogical continuity errors between episodes, but that's just one of the many things that made this such a wonderful program to watch. It didn't have to be believable.

There are only two things that have stopped me from giving this excellent performance a 10 out of 10. Firstly, 'Kristine Kochanski', played by 'Chloë Annett'. I thought she was a dreadful actress, who portrayed the character of Kochanski all wrong. At the start of the series, she was played by 'Clare Grogan', a small, Scottish woman, who although, again, wasn't that good at acting, was definitely better than Annett. And then, later on, she was replaced by Chloë Annett, a completely different type. She was English, taller and much harsher. Not the sort of woman you would imagine Lister cooing over. Her diatribe was certainly less than amusing.

Apart from that, series 8 was a disaster. Bringing back the Crew of Red Dwarf was a huge mistake. The plot suddenly became far too serious compared to the outrageous antics that were on show previously. A complete change from the norm, that served to make me actually think about not watching the next episode.

But overall, this is definitely one of the best programs ever made, and will continue to be a source of entertainment for many generations. The humour throughout I don't think can ever truly become dated, so the wow factor will always remain.

'Monk', the American TV Comedy Drama about a former homicide detective turned private detective with OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). The long running series that has so far spanned seven seasons, a total of 109 episodes, starring 'Tony Shalhoub' as the famous 'Adrian Monk' has been a joy to watch.

All through his life, Adrian has suffered from his obsessive compulsiveness and his fear of, "everything". But when he met his future wife, 'Trudy Ellison', played by Stellina Rusich (2002-2003) and Melora Hardin (2004-2008), he managed to live a relatively normal life around many of his fears, including becoming a San-Fransisco Police Officer. But after Trudy's tragic death by a car-bomb when she went out for some medicine for Adrian's agoraphobic brother, 'Ambrose Monk', played by 'John Turturro', Adrian slipped in to a heavy depression that further fuelled his problems and multiplied his fears.

Adrian's list of fears is excessively long, so much so that it would be impossible to fit it all in. But his basic fears are; germs, heights, crowds, milk (don't ask), dentists, touching people, etc. Or as Monk himself says in an episode where he's standing on top of a table and he's asked why he's up there if he's afraid of heights. He replies, "Snakes trump heights. It goes germs, needles, milk, death, snakes, mushrooms, heights, crowds, elevators." While trying to solve the biggest case of his life, the murder of his wife, Trudy, he has to combat these fears every day. This certainly takes its toll on both himself and those around him.

Consequently, Monk is suspended from the department pending psychiatric treatment. He grows very attached to his psychiatrist, 'Dr Charles Kroger', played by 'Stanley Kamel' who sadly passed away in April 2008. One of Monk's colleagues, also a "friend", 'Captain Leland Stottlemeyer' - 'Ted Levine', arranged for him to have a nurse to look after him. This nurse was 'Sharona Flemming' played by the wonderful, 'Bitty Schram'. For several years, she dutifully cares for him, trying to cure him and get him reinstated. But Sharona eventually leaves, moving away to remarry her ex-husband. This leaves Adrian depressed once again, but he eventually starts to recover and employs a new "assistant", 'Natalie Teeger' - 'Traylor Howard' after he solves a murder case in her own home.

Also starring in the hit TV-series, is 'Jason Gray-Stanford' who plays the hilariously naive and underrated 'Lt. Randall Disher' who surprisingly created some quite catchy music with his in-series music group, the 'Randy Disher Project'. All together, Tony Shalhoub, Ted Levine and Jason Gray-Stanford create a top-notch team of actors, portraying their characters individual styles and characteristics without flaw and adding to the believability of the program.

The whole series is laced with both subtle and in your face humour that helped to make it as great as it is. I, as well as others I know, have often felt myself getting irritated, or even annoyed at Adrian's whining over such simple things, and how he can go way over the top with his reactions. But despite it all, by the end of the episode, you find yourself feeling unhindered sympathy for him.

Overall, an excellent show with outstanding performances and classic quotes such as: Mr Monk: Unless I'm wrong, which you know, I'm not... Mr Monk: I have nature on my hands.